aphoenix's recent activity
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Comment on What did you do this week (and weekend)? in ~talk
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Comment on May 2024 Backlog Burner: Week 2 Discussion in ~games
aphoenix LinkI have been falling behind because my son has got me on Minecraft and most of my free time for video games has gone that way. I'm still planning on getting everything done this month though! I've...I have been falling behind because my son has got me on Minecraft and most of my free time for video games has gone that way. I'm still planning on getting everything done this month though! I've got a golf card, and I've started planning things out, so hopefully this weekend I'll figure something out.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
aphoenix Link ParentThe new features are great - I love how Bingo Golf has become fully supported! There are a lot of new and interesting options, though I actually had to reroll my card a few times, as you did,...The new features are great - I love how Bingo Golf has become fully supported! There are a lot of new and interesting options, though I actually had to reroll my card a few times, as you did, because I didn't read them all and I ended up with impossible cards, not once, not twice, but thrice! The funniest reroll was "video game released before you were born" which would not have given me a lot of options without finding my way to a very old-school arcade...
Though come to think of it my cousin is a pinball repair man, so I might have been able to count one of his machines, and would have given me an excuse to visit?
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
aphoenix LinkPlayed a bit more Minecraft with my kids over the last week. It has been pretty fun, and they have taught me a lot about the game. I'm still basically a noob, but I've progressed enough to mine a...Played a bit more Minecraft with my kids over the last week. It has been pretty fun, and they have taught me a lot about the game. I'm still basically a noob, but I've progressed enough to mine a bunch of diamonds and supply all of us with diamond armour, tools, and weapons. I don't really know much about progression in the game, and my son has made a lot of weird contraptions around our base, like a cow farm on a single block where cows automatically die and are harvested, and a mob spawner that safely drops mobs so you can collect XP. The ease with which he solves minecraft problems is very humbling.
Other than that, I'm looking to do the Backlog Burner this month, so I'm looking at my card and thinking of next steps.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
aphoenix LinkAfter reading some of the threads here about Minecraft, and after two kids asking for a good long while, I broke down and got three copies of Minecraft for us. The first couple of days we mostly...After reading some of the threads here about Minecraft, and after two kids asking for a good long while, I broke down and got three copies of Minecraft for us. The first couple of days we mostly learned in our own world's, but then the kids wanted to have a family server that was easily shareable with friends, so I probably over-engineered a solution. I found a pretty cool project that deploys Minecraft to AWS, and got everything put together fora pretty nice system. Whenever one of us wants to play, we just have to do a wake-up action for the server, which mostly just means hitting the server url in some manner. That triggers an AWS lambda that starts a farmgate instance on demand and updates the route 53 routing so that it all works. Then you connect, play, enjoy. If nobody is connected got 20 minutes then the instance stops. I get notifications when people go on and off, and it's pretty painless and also quite inexpensive.
I did originally set something up locally with my home server, but that highlighted a bunch of minor issues with my home network, which I haven't yet fixed, and also it is a bit underpowered for multiple people being connected, especially if someone is watching something on tv/plex which is the same crummy server.
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Comment on Help me ditch Chrome's password manager! in ~tech
aphoenix LinkI use 1Password for my family and Bitwarden for work. They are similar, but I generally find 1Password easier to use, especially for people who aren't particularly technical; like @DeaconBlue I...I use 1Password for my family and Bitwarden for work. They are similar, but I generally find 1Password easier to use, especially for people who aren't particularly technical; like @DeaconBlue I find it very easy for my family to use it than any other solution. It's simple enough that my wife, a professor, can use it (mainly a joke for anyone who has worked IT help at a university, but also... somewhat serious).
Bitwarden is also a good option. It's nearly as good; the sharing is a bit clunkier, the interface is less polished, the prompts to remember passwords are a bit different. It mostly could down to I like the feeling of 1Password just a bit more.
Overall either solution is probably a good one for most use cases.
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Comment on TV Tuesdays Free Talk in ~tv
aphoenix LinkI watched Baby Reindeer. Spoilers about, but I try not to give more away than the trailer. The story is about stalking, sexual trauma, and it is based on a true story. It is marketed as "dark...I watched Baby Reindeer.
Spoilers about, but I try not to give more away than the trailer. The story is about stalking, sexual trauma, and it is based on a true story. It is marketed as "dark comedy".
This was an interesting show, and I found myself spellbound. This is an adaptation of Richard Gadd's play of the same name, which I was not familiar with. Gadd stars as Donny Dunn, a "Comedian" (he uses the quotes himself in a dating profile) in London, who lives with his ex-girlfriend's mum and works as a bartender. He is kind to a patron at his pub, Martha. He buys her a cup of tea and she becomes obsessed with him, and turns into a stalker. Martha is played by Jessica Gunning, who is as perfectly cast as any role I can think of in recent memory. She is unsettling, pathetic, frightening, sad, quixotic. The character of Martha is great, but she is really just the framework through which we examine Donny and the deep ways in which he is a broken man who is not running towards a goal, but running away from his past.
There's a lot more to the show; it touches on a lot of issues. Notably, there is sexual assault, violence, and transphobia. Still, it did manage to impart dark humour in a lot of ways, and not in belittling ways. There are also a lot of raw, heartfelt moments. One of those moments is Donny talking to his tough, quintessentially rural Scottish father about sexual assault - I had one expectation and the scene went entirely differently, and was filled with love and understanding.
Overall, I thought this was a very well-done show. Each episode is half an hour, and very easy to sit through; the full runtime is not that much longer than what the play must have been, maybe just north of 4 hours, and it's a pretty tight 4 hours. I recommend giving this a watch if the relatively dark content is something that won't bother you.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
aphoenix Link ParentI also have been doing some Slay the Spire - mostly Daily Climbs, but some A20s too. I found an annoyance! There's a card called "Infernal Blade" which costs 1 (0 if upgraded) and reads "Add a...I also have been doing some Slay the Spire - mostly Daily Climbs, but some A20s too. I found an annoyance! There's a card called "Infernal Blade" which costs 1 (0 if upgraded) and reads "Add a random attack into your hand. It costs 0 this turn. Exhaust." That emphasis is mine.
I was playing a game where I got unceasing top early, and managed to thin my deck out and take Clash - generally a garbage card - and Anger. It was mostly an auto-kill deck; I only had about 18 cards in the deck, and only 4 of them had a cost above 0. I was presented with an upgraded Infernal Blade as an option, and I figured that it would work very well. The next battle, I used it, got a Bludgeon, and figured I was on easy street... until that Bludgeon came around on the same turn and suddenly cost 3! I was not surprised per se, but I was disappointed. This would be easy to fix - either change the card to read "The first time you play that card, it costs 0," or actually fix it to cost 0 for the entirety of that turn.
Luckily I had some Warcry and Havoc as well, so I managed to get rid of the Bludgeon the next turn, and had enough gold to get rid of the Infernal Blade at the next merchant, but I very nearly gave up a really great A20 run entirely because the card didn't actually do what it says that it does.
I also have been playing some Fallout, because I watched the Fallout show, which I really enjoyed. I haven't actually played Fallout 4, but I'm going to go through Fallout NV again I think before trying that.
I also have been playing Magic... and DnD. We're on a trajectory together. ;)
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Comment on What cooking techniques need more evidence? in ~food
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Comment on What cooking techniques need more evidence? in ~food
aphoenix Link ParentI do the same, I think that's great advice.I do the same, I think that's great advice.
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Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of April 7 in ~games
aphoenix Link ParentYes, on its a totally different, completely diegetic way, and I think it's one of the core things I really like about the game. I definitely recommend giving it a shot of the sound of that appeals...Yes, on its a totally different, completely diegetic way, and I think it's one of the core things I really like about the game. I definitely recommend giving it a shot of the sound of that appeals to you. There are also things like upgraded carts and tractors to help with inventory moving.
There are definitely times where things get a bit tedious; I recently was trying to carry a bunch of conveyor belts into a mine and I wanted it to feel like an old timey mine, so there wasn't a single convenient hole to drop everything in front the surface, so I ended up carrying things down a few at a time using pallets. This leads to a slightly different suspension of disbelief sort of moment; you can carry any of the equipment or materials regardless of weight. I just brought up a 250,000 pound piece of iron, for example. But I still thing the lack of inventory is very charming.
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Comment on What cooking techniques need more evidence? in ~food
aphoenix (edited )Link ParentRegarding your two disagreements, I agree with you. You don't actually need to reseason as long as you treat the pan right. I cook pasta sauce in one of mine, and arguably don't treat it as well...Regarding your two disagreements, I agree with you. You don't actually need to reseason as long as you treat the pan right. I cook pasta sauce in one of mine, and arguably don't treat it as well as it deserves. As a result of my poor treatment, I do heat mine on high, because as you said the specific heat capacity makes it resistant to temperature change, and I'm usually strapped for time most days at dinner. You touched on something super important which is to not dump it in cold water when you are done, which I appreciate.
cc: @chocobean both of those caveats to what I said are important!
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Comment on What cooking techniques need more evidence? in ~food
aphoenix Link ParentYou want to make sure you have properly seasoned your pan, and then make sure you reseason it with some regularity (I do so about every six months). That's the biggest thing - if you have a...You want to make sure you have properly seasoned your pan, and then make sure you reseason it with some regularity (I do so about every six months). That's the biggest thing - if you have a properly seasoned pan, it's not particularly sticky even without oil in it. Also, it's a good idea to know your temperature. I often heat the pan relatively high to get it hot quickly (with oil in) then reduce the heat to closer to what medium is on my range, which is still super hot, to maintain that heat through cooking. Cast Iron will stay at temperature for a long time, but can take a bit to get to temperature.
But it's 99% about properly seasoning the pan, which is relatively easy to do:
- coat the pan with a neutral oil with high smoke point
- bake it in the oven - I usually do 350 for an hour
- let it cool
- repeat as desired
The more you season it, the nonstickier it gets. When I start with a cast iron, I usually do three-four cycles of the above; when I reseason I do one or two.
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Comment on Under development: WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria (not classic) in ~games
aphoenix Link ParentMists of Pandaria is, in my opinion, the best expansion. The art team killed it, the new class and race were both awesome, the story was as good as it had ever been, there were things to do in the...Mists of Pandaria is, in my opinion, the best expansion. The art team killed it, the new class and race were both awesome, the story was as good as it had ever been, there were things to do in the world, the proto-garrison (the farm) wasn't detrimental to the feeling of community, dragon racing was fun, the gear grind wasn't as bad as it felt later on, and the raids and dungeons were top notch.
I cannot overstate how much the art team absolutely nailed it.
Disclaimer: I've not played the most recent expansion so that one might be in the running?
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Comment on Best "dad" jokes and puns! in ~talk
aphoenix Link ParentWhat do you get when you cross a mosquito and a mountain climber? You can't cross a vector with a scalar.What do you get when you cross a mosquito and a mountain climber?
You can't cross a vector with a scalar. -
Comment on Best "dad" jokes and puns! in ~talk
aphoenix Link ParentWhat's brown and rhymes with snoop? Dr. DreWhat's brown and rhymes with snoop?
Dr. Dre
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Comment on Parenthood venting thread in ~talk
aphoenix Link ParentI would add another enthusiastic voice for early childhood signing. Most of the difficult part of parenting is "what does this small human with no output method need?" and giving them an output...I would add another enthusiastic voice for early childhood signing. Most of the difficult part of parenting is "what does this small human with no output method need?" and giving them an output method fixes that problem in, as you said, 95% of cases. There are a variety of other benefits to early communication as well, mostly related to language acquisition and ability in later development. I guess as a citation, I'll say that my wife is a renowned speech-language pathologist with a special interest in early childhood development. I would not say that my kids were experiments, but if they had been they would have been quite successful experiments.
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Comment on Tildes is changing the way I use and think about online engagement. How about you? in ~tildes
aphoenix Link ParentIt was wonderful to me how quickly the distaste for notifications that I had from Reddit turned into delight at notifications here at Tildes. It's interesting to me that it is especially true when...It was wonderful to me how quickly the distaste for notifications that I had from Reddit turned into delight at notifications here at Tildes. It's interesting to me that it is especially true when there is a differing opinion on something; on Reddit it would often be fruitless, but here it is almost always an opportunity to learn something, which tends to be fairly rare these days. I think that's the sign of a very good community that is well maintained.
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Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of April 7 in ~games
aphoenix Link ParentLGIO actually was why I ended up with this game in the first place: that's one of my son's favorite YouTube channels, and his he got invited in a lot of our current games. Some people do find the...LGIO actually was why I ended up with this game in the first place: that's one of my son's favorite YouTube channels, and his he got invited in a lot of our current games.
Some people do find the lack of inventory to be a problem, but personally I think it makes it more interesting than a lot of other games in the same genre. Plus the developer is really easy to get access to; he's on Reddit and in discord and will answer questions when asked. One time I asked about something in the discord - just a general question, not a targeted ping or anything - and he answered almost immediately, and just seemed genuinely nice. That always goes a long way for me.
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Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of April 7 in ~games
aphoenix LinkThe base game of Hydroneer is currently 50% off on steam thanks to the release of the first DLC for the game. It's a factory building game, but what distinguishes it from other factory games is...The base game of Hydroneer is currently 50% off on steam thanks to the release of the first DLC for the game. It's a factory building game, but what distinguishes it from other factory games is that there is no inventory system. Whatever is in your hands is the inventory. Every way to address this is an element of the game; for example, you need to buy buckets, baskets, carts, etc. to take large amounts of things to other places. Overall it's one of my favourite factory builders, and the developer is friendly and approachable.
Congrats, that's a nice car. I love driving manual, though I have the opportunity rarely now. I sold my mustang to buy a mini-van several years ago, and neither my wife nor eldest child drive manual. Actually, my other kids don't drive manual either, but it's kind of moot when they don't have a license.
Is somebody teaching you, or are you just picking it up as you go?
One of the scariest moments in my life was many years ago while teaching a girlfriend to drive manual; she made a poor decision to turn left, stalled in the middle of the left turn, and a huge truck stopped, inches from my face.